TRANSNET INQUIRY REFERENCE BOOK

The Transnet Inquiry Reference Book, authored by the Public Affairs Research Institute, provides a fact-based account of governance failures and systemic corruption at Transnet, South Africa's state-owned freight transport and logistics company. The report details how the company's governance was repurposed to facilitate large-scale corruption and rent-seeking, primarily benefiting the Gupta family and their associates through manipulated procurement processes for locomotives, cranes, and IT services.

• Transnet's governance was systematically repurposed to enable corruption, characterized by the centralization of decision-making power and the appointment of inept or corrupt individuals to key positions.
• The procurement of 1,064 locomotives was marked by inflated costs and irregular strategies; the contract value rose from R38.6bn to R54.5bn, and a strategy to split the order between four companies increased costs by R5.1bn and slowed delivery.
• China South Rail (CSR) paid substantial kickbacks to Gupta-linked entities for locomotive contracts, including an agreed R537m commission for the 95-locomotive project and approximately R3.8bn for the 359-locomotive project.
• The procurement of seven ship-to-shore cranes from ZPMC involved inflated pricing to accommodate a US$12m premium paid to JJ Trading, a Gupta associate company.
• Swiss-based Liebherr International AG allegedly paid the Guptas via Accurate Investments to secure a contract for 22 cranes, with payments totaling over US$2.2m between July 2013 and May 2014.
• SAP engaged in irregular dealings with Gupta-linked firms, paying commissions to CAD House for software contracts and attempting to award a R800m IT tender to SAP with a condition that 60% of the value be spent on Global Softech Solutions (GSS).
• Neotel was awarded multi-million rand contracts, including a R329m CCTV contract and a R1.8bn telecom service agreement, after paying over R100 million in commissions to the shell company Homix.
• Regiments Capital and Trillian received over R600 million in excessive fees for services that could have been performed by Transnet's internal treasury, including arranging loans and interest rate swaps.
• Regiments Capital misappropriated funds from the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund by moving 14% of assets into risky derivatives and paying itself unauthorized bonuses and fees.
• T-Systems was awarded a new IT data services contract in February 2017 by the Board Acquisitions and Disposals Committee (BADC), defying recommendations from Transnet management and National Treasury to award it to Gijima.

APA

Pillay, D., & Prins, N. (n.d.). TRANSNET INQUIRY REFERENCE BOOK. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Transnet-Inquiry-Report-V1-Final.pdf

Chicago

Pillay, Devi, and Nicky Prins. TRANSNET INQUIRY REFERENCE BOOK. Public Affairs Research Institute, n.d. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Transnet-Inquiry-Report-V1-Final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pillay |first1=Devi |last2=Prins |first2=Nicky |title=TRANSNET INQUIRY REFERENCE BOOK |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Transnet-Inquiry-Report-V1-Final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pillayndtransnet, author = {Pillay, Devi and Prins, Nicky}, title = {{TRANSNET INQUIRY REFERENCE BOOK}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Transnet-Inquiry-Report-V1-Final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }